Materials generally used in bicycle tires for puncture resistance include relatively high strength multifilament woven yarns of fibrous materials such as nylon, para-aramids (e.g., KEVLAR), and liquid crystal polymers (e.g., VECTRAN). The individual filaments in the woven multifilament yarn fabrics can move laterally (i.e., side to side between the side walls) as an object is forced between the filaments piercing the fabric. While some foreign objects may be large enough so as not to be able to penetrate the weave of the polymeric fabric, other foreign objects may exhibit dimensions that are relatively small, particularly in the lateral dimension, and may be more easily be forced through the weave of the filaments and pierce the tire tube.
Aluminum and titanium foil strips have also been incorporated in bicycle tires due to their relatively low densities, in an effort to keep the overall weight of the tires low. However, aluminum is relatively soft. In addition, titanium, while relatively harder than aluminum, is of relatively greater expense, limiting its use. Still, these materials may exhibit relatively low elasticity of approximately 0.2% (i.e. the amount of strain that the material may undergo without plastic deformation). The elastic limit of these metals may be overcome when hard impacts or foreign objects are encountered and plastic deformation of the metals may reduce ride performance and durability of the tire. Accordingly, there remains a need to provide a puncture resistant tire that prevents foreign objects of various sizes from penetrating the tire and piercing the tire tube.